The Retail Ombudsman (TRO) to appoint Independent Assessor

The Retail Ombudsman (TRO) to appoint Independent Assessor

As part of its 2017 strategy and due to the rapid growth of the scheme, TRO has announced that it is to appoint an Independent Assessor to adjudicate over service complaints. This means that if consumers are unhappy with the way in which TRO handled their complaint, they will be able to ask the Independent Assessor to investigate what happened. The Independent Assessor will review the circumstances of service complaints and, if necessary, make recommendations.

The Independent Assessor will not review the use of judgment by an adjudicator or ombudsman on what evidence is needed, what weight is placed upon the evidence, or whether a complaint should be upheld. The Independent Assessor will also not comment on the outcome of a case – just how it was handled.

The Independent Assessor will not be accountable to the chief executive/chief ombudsman or the Board of TRO and will also be free from influence, guidance and control in respect of reviews, opinions and recommendations.

TRO’s Chief Ombudsman, Dean Dunham, commented “Independence is at the heart of all that we do at TRO. To this end, it is important that users of TRO’s scheme have access to an independent assessor if they feel the need to complain about the service they have received. This is the first of a number of new initiatives to implement greater accountability, independence and consumer confidence at TRO.”

"We are an independent 'not for profit' and impartial organisation that specialises in resolving consumer disputes"

As of July 2017, Consumer Dispute Resolution Limited (“CDRL”) has resigned its membership with Ombudsman Association. CDRL operates four alternative dispute resolution schemes:

The Retail Ombudsman

AviationADR

UtilitiesADR

CommsADR

CDRL had aspirations to expand its ADR offering, under The Retail Ombudsman brand into sectors beyond high street and online retail. However, last year Ombudsman Association introduced a rule that it would only allow one ‘ombudsman’ scheme per sector which meant that CDRL would not be able to continue its expansion plans as an ombudsman. Naturally, CDRL had to respect this decision.

At the start of 2017 CDRL started the process of launching UtilitiesADR and CommsADR as non-ombudsman schemes. CDRL’s aviation scheme, approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, was then transitioned to a non-ombudsman scheme. The final step has been to transition the retail scheme, which has now been finalised and as part of this the scheme name has been changed from The Retail Ombudsman to RetailADR.

The Retail Ombudsman scheme has been a very big success and has attracted many big High Street and online brands as members. All these brands have agreed to continue to work with RetailADR, in recognition of the efficient, cost effective ADR service it provides.

The decision to transition from ombudsman to non-ombudsman has been taken entirely by CDRL and has been made to allow the continued growth of our very successful ADR model, which has benefited and will continue to benefit both consumers and traders. Government therefore did not withdraw CDRL’s right to use the ‘ombudsman’ title and the relevant competent authorities, that authorise CDRL under The Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Amendment) Regulations 2015 have been supportive of the transition.

For more Information or to submit a new claim please visit our website:www.cdrl.org.uk

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